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About Craig Frazier

Did you know that www.statista.com now predicts e-book sales will total more than 8.69 billion dollars in the U.S. alone by 2017?

That is a mind blowing statistic, but where are all these resources coming from and more importantly HOW are they getting created?

If you have wanted to create a digital product to give away or sell online I want to walk you through a very simple 5 step process for creating your own digital product.

I will be covering some additional techniques and more detailed instructions in future posts but for today let me give you an overview of this process that you can start to use right away.

The Simple 5 Step Process for Creating Your Digital Product

Step 1: Define the Purpose – the first step is to define the purpose of your digital product. Is it going to be used as a free giveaway to encourage subscriptions to a newsletter or as a resource to your existing e-mail list or perhaps as a product you hope to sell?

Step 2: High Level Outline – once you have decided the purpose for your digital product simply list out the main topics or titles you want to cover in the resource. This is very high level and should be just what comes to mind without a lot of effort. Don’t spend too much time on this step.

Step 3: Content – now that you have your outline, just start writing about each main topic or title. Again, this isn’t something you should agonize over for very long. Write anything and everything that comes to mind knowing that you will go back and edit later. Don’t stop your flow to fix minor errors or reword sentences….just write. Once you finish writing your initial content take a break without editing or changing anything. I typically put it down for the day and pick it back up the following day.

Step 4: Editing – now that you have your initial content written and you have taken a break, simply go back through the content you have written and make your wording changes, fix the typos, delete or add sentences etc.

Step 5: Finalize – depending on the type of document you have created you may want to add in images, a cover page, a disclaimer, table of contents or other intro page. Now is the time to add those pieces.

Following these 5 simple steps will allow you to easily and quickly create your own digital product that you can use in a variety of ways to promote your website or service or potentially even sell it online.

I will be covering each of these steps in future posts to give you even more helpful tips on writing, and diving into some neat and free tools anyone can use for creating a professional looking cover page for your ebook or other digital product.

If you need help with any part of the process of creating your own digital product check out the Complete E-book Coaching Course for personalized help and consulting with guaranteed results!

My goal for this site is for it to be a straightforward resource for those looking to turn an idea into a digital product. As I spent some time doing research this week on this topic I ran across a bunch of sites and resources that were confusing, messy, full of ads or just plain difficult to follow.

I don’t want that.

I decide to write some Core Values for this site and the community we will build here.

Focus On Simplicity – I am focused on making these processes and the ideas we develop on this site to be ridiculously simple. Everyone in the world that can use Microsoft Word should be able to create and sell a digital product online.

Always Provide Value – I am always going to focus on providing more value than cost. That includes both time and money. This site should be easy to follow, contain well-written and easy to follow articles and if there is anything to buy it will be a value for the cost.

Be Transparent – this site is as much about you learning how to do this as it about me implementing the steps I am teaching you. This site and the steps I take on it should be an example for you on how to create your own process and build your own product. No topic related to the creation and selling of a digital product online is off limits or out of bounds.

Give Back – while most of the resources and information on the site will be free, if you ever truly do not have the resources to pay for one of my digital products simply let me know and we will work something out so you get the information.

This site will be a resource for my friends and family and for you, if you want to learn. There are so many people that I personally know that should have a digital product to share, yet they think the process is too difficult…it isn’t.

Let me take you by the hand and show you a set of simple steps to help you develop an idea and turn it into a digital product (ebook) that you can give away or sell online.

A relative of mine came over last night for one more visit before heading back out of town. It was good to see her and get to talk to her about what is going on in her life. As I listened to her and engaged in the conversation we quickly fell into a topic that we have a common interest in and as I have had this blog on my mind, I instantly thought about how I could turn this topic into an ebook product.

Think about it….how many conversations do you have everyday? For those that are looking for that big idea, please don’t overthink this process. Having a great idea is more about just keeping an open mind and having the awareness to think about things in the context of a writing project.

Here are some main category ideas:

Documenting a process or training topic – think about the possibility of a training guide on playing the piano, or learning the guitar or another topic that could be taught in a step by step format.

“How To” resources – we have all seen the guides on how to lose weight, how to easily whiten your teeth, how to work from home…etc.

Template resources – these are very popular ebook resources that could include a template or set of templates for reports, or documents that will save the buyer time from creating their own resource from scratch.

Compilation resources – this could be a cookbook or recipe guide for a particular niche.

Expert resources – perhaps you have a special skill or knowledge in a particular area. It could be that you have a job that gives you insight into a particular topic of interest to others or perhaps you have a special skill that you could show or train to others.

As you can see I have only listed a few but there are numerous formats for an ebook style resource that you can create. Having these category ideas in mind as you have conversations or as you brainstorm will help you really focus in on something worth writing about.

Special Key Tip: if you don’t take anything else away from this post please remember this one thing – no matter what ebook, video, guide or other resource you decide to put together, IT MUST solve a problem for someone. If your resource solves a problem, saves someone time, saves them money, helps them get rid of acne…whatever it is, if you can solve a problem for someone then your resource will have instant value for everyone with that problem.

So I am taking the first step to get this site running as I have had it on my list for quite some time.

I recently signed up for a coaching program to help keep me accountable for getting this site up and it is appropriately named The Quick Start Challenge because it is all about taking action. While many people need a fitness trainer to get in shape I needed a coach to help me manage my time, avoid the distractions, challenge me to take the next step and consult with me on certain key areas to make this business a success.

While the internet is awesome for a lot of things, the sheer volume of information and options can become overwhelming very quickly. Sometimes it is good to strip everything away and get back to basics. My ultimate hope for this site is to be able to show you and others simple ways to develop your unique knowledge and expertise into products you can use to start earning part time or full time revenue online.

You see, I know a lot of talented people. Some that can play the guitar and write music, some that can fix virtually anything, some that can cook amazing meals and some that turn simple projects with their kids into works of art. These are people that have something to share as do many thousands of others, but only a very small fraction of them know how to turn that passion or talent of theirs into a product, education, process or tutorial for someone else.

I am an entrepreneur at heart. I have always loved small business and the invention of new products, finding new ways of doing things and the ability and freedom to be able to take a simple idea and make it into a great business. That is my passion. I love streamlining processes and turning chaos into organization…I am a fixer plain and simple. What is it that you love? What hobbies or talents do you have that drive you?

If you aren’t sure how to answer that simple question you aren’t alone. Most people don’t have a simple answer for that, but why? The fact is, your talents, knowledge or expertise may be no big deal to you but there are others that would love to know what you know or be able to do what you do. People are constantly looking to solve problems or create new things and the internet is where they go to find this information. Imagine if someone, or many people were hungry to learn what you know!

A large part of this blog will be about discovery – to help you find your passion, talent or niche and turn that into a tangible product that can be marketed. I want to help you think about yourself and your unique abilities in a new way and give you a process for turning those abilities into products that you can earn money from online.

Technology makes it possible but most don’t know where to begin…do you?

If not, I encourage you to take this journey with me and start making a list of the things you spend your time on and what makes you feel most fulfilled. Whatever it is you are good at, I guarantee there are hundreds if not thousands of people out there that would do anything to be good at what seems to come so easily to you. Decide what kind of product your special talent could become and then turn it into something tangible that others can learn from and use. Once the item is in a format that can be purchased and used (read, listened to, watched, followed, etc.) then it becomes instantly valuable to anyone who ever wanted to learn how to play the guitar or write a song or make beef jerky or build a kite or anything else that someone may want to know.

My goal is to give you a little bit of my entrepreneurial spirit so you can see the value of your individual abilities, with some tools and ideas to help you develop those ideas into products that can then be sold or shared with others. Stay tuned for some next steps on how to identify the passions and abilities you have that may work well in the context of creating a new product!